New Sufi Songs from Northern India "Baul Bishwa" means "the world of the bauls", and a concert by the Baul Bishwa group is an invitation to discover this world. The group was given its name by Bapi Das Baul, whose aim is to share baul culture and music with other peoples. Bapi is a member of the eighth generation of the most famous and talented Baul family in India, and for him cultural roots are of great importance. From an early age, he was taught by his father, Purna Das Baul, to sing, play musical instruments and do Baul meditation.

Bapi has furthered the development of Baul music, by working mainly on its rhythmic features and by making innovations in the style of singing, although traditional instruments alone continue to be used on stage. These include several percussionists, a flautist and a player of the dotara (an instrument of the lute family). The artists are united by the characteristic "power" (inspiration) of the Baul mystics. They sing and dance as well as playing their instruments, and their gift of improvisation is equalled only by their love of the music, inspiring them with a joy and energy which they then communicate to the audience. The moment of greatest intensity is when the female dancer joins Bapi in an energetic duet a display of grace and agility as also occurs in the main traditional baul ceremony in India, the Mela.

Bapi is joined on the stage by his parents his mother Manju Das a renowned folk singer and his father Purna Das Bauls, the best known Baul in India, on whom President Rajendra Prasad conferred the title of Baul Shamrat "Emperor of the Bauls" in 1967. Purna Das Bauls' father, Nabani Das Baul, was a famous yogi who set many of Tagore's poems to music and wrote several songs himself. Hence the great interest shown by Tagore in the baul movement.

Purna das Bauls soon became popular on account of the beauty and emotion expressed by his voice. He was the first baul to go on tour, and has developed new techniques of singing. He has composed a great number of songs and has recorded much of his music on disc in India, the USA, Europe and Japan. A film has been made of his life, and he is a star in India. Like his father at an earlier date, Bapi has not hesitated to collaborate with other groups in a variety of ways, and the irresistible rhythm of his music and his use of traditional instruments have attracted such groups as ZapMama (for whom he composed the Indian song on their Sabsyima CD), Joseph Archer, Fun-da-mental, Eat Static, Transglobal Underground and Natacha Atlas. One of his compositions is included in the soundtrack of Tony Gatliff's film "Mondo".
Baul Music Baul music expresses a specific understanding of life. The words of the songs express all the essential ideas of the baul philosophy in simple, lively language. Sometimes the meaning is clear and easily comprehensible, while at others what at first sight seems a simple story contains a meaning that is obscure and difficult to understand.

The bauls have extremely rich sexual rituals, as in their yoga they search for identity through the female part of their being, transforming sexual energy into a power of a spiritual and creative nature. The songs are often sensuous and erotic: they speak of devotion to God, but can easily be understood as declarations of human love or of love for humanity and for Sadhana, or as assertions of equality between human beings.

While the theology, philosophy and metaphysics are a necessary part of the songs, their inspiration lies in their unrequitable passion for life, love and happiness. A baul concert is an emotional experience for the audience. The joy, rhythm and sense of goodness which emanates from the Baul musicians is quickly communicated to the audience, and it is easy to follow them in their moments of ecstasy.

Baul instruments Almost all the baul musical instruments are made by the musicians themselves. They are of a simple design in accordance with the musicians' way of life. They are light and easy to handle marvels of craftmanship made from natural materials.

The most well-known of the instruments is undoubtedly the Ektara. The name of this instrument means "one string" a single string that is a baul symbol, signifying the unity of humanity with God.

Baul musicians are accompanied by a small percussion instrument called the Dugi a smaller version of the Tabla bass drum, the Baya.

The most popular instrument is the Khamak or Ananda Iahari or Gubgubi. It is a cylindrical metal drum with two strings, producing a wide range of sounds for the melody and rhythm of the music.

Other instruments are the Mandira (hand cymbals), Ramshaki (cymbals on a wooden support) and the Nupura and Gunghur which the musicians carry strapped to their bodies.

Other instruments not of baul origin have begun to be used more frequently in recent years. The dotara (whose name means "two strings", although in fact the instrument has four) is a skin-covered instrument of the lute family. The Bansuri is a bamboo flute. The Khol and Dhol are percussion instruments made respectively of metal and wood, and there is also the small Tabla.

Some notes on the bauls The word "baul" comes from the Sanskrit "batul", meaning "mad" in the best sense of that word, as this so-called "madness" is the bauls' aim in life "madness" which implies union with everything encountered in the course of a person's life, whether human, animal, vegetable or object. It is like sugar dissolving in water, as if the bauls dissolved into Creation and became a single whole with the universe. The bauls have no single home, as they consider their home to be everywhere, and they make no distinction between cast, origin or race. They themselves originated in the lower classes of society, and travelled from town to town compiling as much oral culture as they could find. They base their life behaviour on Sadhana meditation and yoga. Their yoga is Aarope Sadhana the yoga of breathing. By regulating respiration, the functions of the body, nerves and senses come to be understood. For this reason, it has been suggested that the word "baul" in fact comes from the Sanskrit "bayou", meaning "air". Those who do this yoga of breathing are bauls. Their guide is the Guru, who brings light to show the way to the treasure of one's self the Bindu, the soul, the being in itself. There are Moslem and Hindu Bauls, and within the Hindu community there are different religious movements, Tantrists, Sufis and the Vaishnavas who worship Radha-Krishna as well as Buddhists.

Tagore took an active interest in the Bauls, to whom he dedicated several of his poems. To summarise, we could say that the Bauls are characterised above all by their love of humanity and their desire to communicate this love through their music.

Biography Purna das Baul began his artistic career in 1954, performing on the radio and for the cinema. He made his first international tours to Finland and the former Soviet Union in 1964. He toured the United States in 1967, Europe in 1971, Asia the following year and Australia in 1973. In 1974 he greatly enhanced his popularity by taking part in the International Conference on Folk Music in New Delhi. He gave concerts in China in 1980 and with Bod Dilan Seria "Bob Dylan"? in the United States in 1985. He performed on several occasions on the WOMAD circuit in 1995 and 1996. In 1998 he appointed his son Bapi das Baul artistic, director of the group, which henceforth took the name of Baul Bishwa, and continued with its successful concert tours throughout the world.